


PARASITE

by P5soleilnoir



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, M/M, P5 Dark Bang, Post-Engine Room, Romance, p5soleilnoir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:01:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23435833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/P5soleilnoir/pseuds/P5soleilnoir
Summary: After Akechi's death in the engine room, Ren is in mourning. But when he returns unscathed a few days later, disbelief quickly steps aside for relief and even something else in Ren's heart. Goro surprisingly accepts his affection, which is yet another strange detail Ren can't wrap his mind around, until he simply chalks it all off to a miracle. It won't be long before Ren understands there's no such thing as miracles... but by then, it might be too late.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro & Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro & Persona 5 Protagonist, Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 6
Kudos: 62





	PARASITE

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is my first story for the [P5 Dark Bang event](https://twitter.com/darkp5bang) which focuses on dark fics, and I do mean dark. Please keep that in mind while reading this fic, and remember to check all the tags!

When Ren opened his eyes, he realized the world around was a mere dark, empty expanse.  
  
As far as the eye could see, there was only blackness and impossible infinity, staggering like a starless cosmos. Ren looked at his feet, feeling his heart lurch at the nothingness underneath, as if one single misstep would cause him to fall to his doom. It was a primal fear, the terror of the world turning upside down and the stomach-churning sensation of an endless fall toward the sky, toward space, toward the universe itself.  
  
Ren was paralyzed on the spot. He could feel his entire body dampen with a cold layer of sweat.  
  
“Hello?” he called, trying to discern something, anything through the dark, to no avail. “Is anyone there?”  
  
Nobody answered him; not even his own echo. He gazed around helplessly, at an utter loss, his stomach tensing into a tight knot. He didn't know what to do, feeling as powerless as if he were restrained. He wasn't, of course – but he felt trapped all the same. Trapped within himself, unable to move his legs across the nothingness, like they were nailed to the invisible floor by some mysterious force. This is when he heard it. 

A voice, familiar in its pitch, but it felt wrong – too quiet, too monotone, too slow. It seemed foreign, unnatural, reminding him of something pleasant turning dangerous overnight, something evil polluting what had once brought him comfort and peace of mind into a source of incapacitating dread. Like a beloved dog suddenly biting the caressing hand, like a trusted teacher revealing themselves to be a predator… 

Like someone dear turning disturbingly deranged, threat and warning abound in their cold, toneless voice; coming from a twisted puppet who seemed to take perverse pleasure in corrupting it.  
  
_“That’s right, I am a puppet. I will do anything.”_  
  
_“If it is for my captain, I am willing to commit any sin as many times as he needs. This includes taking the blame and dying for him, too.”_  
  
_“You’re annoying with all your yapping… Shall I go ahead and get rid of you first?”  
  
_A shudder ran down Ren’s spine. He brought somewhat trembling hands to his ears, pressing into them as hard as he could, but there was no blocking out this bloodcurdling voice. It kept resonating inside his head, like its owner was right there, inches away from him…  
  
“Shut up…” Ren snarled, squeezing his eyes shut in a ferocious scowl. “Stop using his voice… You’re not him—”  
  
_“Don't tell me… Did you really think you alone would be spared, after all the crimes you committed?”  
  
__“If you feel like it, have someone volunteer to take his place.”  
  
_Ren’s head snapped up. The unease claiming his mind was violently uprooted, the gap it left torn by a jolt of panic.  
  
_Akechi._

He was about to die. He was about to get killed, shot by the cognition born from his father’s mind. Ren felt the chokehold of panic strangle his throat.  
  
“A—Akechi!” he yelled, eyes darting everywhere around as he succumbed to the powerful dread eating him alive, “come on, say something! Akechi!”

_“It might just delay his death a little, you know?"_

Ren tried to move, he really did, but it was no use: his legs were still entirely frozen in place, unable to take so much as a step forward. The infinite darkness was warning him, taunting him, daring him to give it a go, eager to swallow him whole. All Ren could do was stare back through wide eyes, horrorstruck. But he couldn’t let fear paralyze his body and mind, Akechi needed him, he needed his help—

The sound of a bullet tearing through the silence was like an icy grip crushing Ren’s heart.  
  
He collapsed to his knees, slowly. His parted lips gave the impression of a silent scream.  
  
The laughter that came into being chilled the blood in his veins.  
  
It was a terrible laugh, devoid of even the smallest shreds of humanity, a laugh speaking for a mind long gone, a mind that had never been there in the first place but rather usurped by sheer insanity like a parasite taking possession of a reluctant host. Ren doubled over and screamed, screamed, screamed for the laugh to stop, screamed for the impostor to stop using that voice, screamed for Akechi to just respond—  
  
  
  
Back in the waking world, Ren was torn from his dream by an eerie, violent start.  
  
Eyes wide with shock, he panted and gasped for air, the sound of his heavy breathing echoing off the walls of the attic. His pajamas were sticking uncomfortably to his skin, drenched like he jumped into a pool; a large dampness the size of his back stained his sheets as well. Ren stared at it, lips still apart, chest rising and falling at an erratic pace.  
  
“Ren?”

A voice pierced through the white fog cluttering his mind, so distant he could barely make it out. It was only when Ren felt a paw press on his arm that he connected the dots – frighteningly too slowly, he realized, feeling some unease travel down his stomach.

“Are you okay?”

It wasn't the first time Morgana expressed concern for him, but his big, round, turquoise eyes seemed unlike never before. Ren gazed at him for a moment, feeling the traces of shock intact through his face and breathing before they eventually faded with a shake of his head.

“Yeah,” he said, trying to manufacture a reassuring smile that never came to be. “I just had a bad dream. Nothing to worry about.”

“Was it about Akechi?” 

Ren froze. The way Morgana was peering at him was like his very soul was being dissected.

“…Bullseye,” Ren sighed wearily, letting his head and shoulders hang low. “How did you know?” 

“It's not too hard to tell, given how much it affected you… affected everyone.”

“Yeah…”

Truth be told, Ren would have been surprised his state of mind was unanimous if he hadn't witnessed the same sorrow etched upon his fellow thieves' faces, intact even four days after Akechi—

 _Don't think about it,_ Ren chided himself, feeling a poignant grip tighten around his heart. He wasn't ready to acknowledge that one word, not yet. 

The fact remained, at any rate, that Ren found some comfort in witnessing his friends share his sentiments when it came to Akechi's fate. Mourning together wasn't any less painful than mourning alone… but it did make it easier to bear.

 _“Dammit, man, it just ain't right!”_ Ryuji had yelled the morning after that fateful day, kicking his chair aside. “ _And it's all that goddamn Shidou's fault!”_

 _“Truly a despicable man,”_ Yusuke had added, and the last time Ren remembered seeing such a severe glare in his eye was when he confronted Madarame's Shadow. Haru's anger, for its part, had been palpable, visible even in her clenched fists; so tight her knuckles had turned white.

_“Unforgivable.”_

The rest of the thieves had been the same – hours would pass and they wouldn't grow bored of calling Shidou every name under the sun and then some. They all despised him, had all looked down on him since the very beginning, but what happened to Akechi was the final nail on the coffin of whatever scrap of forgiveness they might have spared for Shidou. Each demon Ren slashed during training, each bullet he shot to clear the way, all was with Akechi in mind, driving Ren to push himself to his very limits so that he could avenge him… so that Akechi may find peace, wherever he now was… 

Each training session ended in heavy breathing and hands resting on knees, every single drop of sweat a testimony of his efforts, of how high the price he would make Shidou pay would be… The rest of his friends were fueled by the same determination, speaking only during battle and otherwise spending their moments of rest in serious, solemn silence.

But deep down, there was one detail separating Ren's motivation from the thieves, one that made the difference between a righteous sense of justice and something more… And while Ren had been distantly aware of his feelings for quite a while now, the words to put a name on them only began to bud after Akechi was violently torn from Ren's life. Although they didn't truly blossom until he met with Ann, a couple of days after they returned from Shidou's Palace.

“So… What are you up to those days?” 

Shibuya Central Street's Big Bang Burger was teeming with life as always, drowning in the loud and incessant chatter of the Tokyo youth. But as cheerful and carefree as the crowd was, Ren just couldn’t find it in him to imitate them.  
  
“Nothing special, I guess…” he replied, glancing vacantly at the table next to theirs. A group of college students was taking part in the Big Bang Burger challenge – each apparently having the time of their lives. “Cleaning up Leblanc, making curry and coffee, the usual.”  
  
“Really? Because Morgana told me you barely get out of bed anymore,” Ann responded, although her voice was free from judgement. “Apparently, you only get up when Boss asks you to give him a hand…”  
  
Ren grimaced, and it seemed Ann sensed exactly what he was thinking in that moment, for she added, “Don’t be upset at Morgana—I’m glad he told me. Else, me and the others would have no way to know how you really feel…”  
  
A short silence went by. Ren didn’t dare meet her gaze.  
  
“Listen, you know how much we all care about you… and it hurts seeing you trying to pretend you’re okay. We’re always there for you and willing to listen, like you always do for us…”  
  
“…don’t want to worry you,” Ren grumbled without looking at her still. A fond little smile appeared on Ann’s lips.  
  
“I know you don’t. You really are considerate, Ren… but it’s not fair to yourself that we keep worrying you with our problems and you won’t. You’re always putting others before yourself. Let us worry about you, too…”  
  
Ren didn’t respond. He knew she had a point.  
  
“You really miss him, don’t you…?”  
  
“…Yeah,” he said simply.  
  
Ann’s intent gaze never wavered from him. He could sense her contemplating him for a very long moment. Then, at last, she spoke.  
  
“Ren… Can I ask you something?” she began, the hesitation in her voice not matching the way her eyes remained resolutely fixed on him. “Did you… like Ake—”  
  
But she cut herself off with an exclamation of surprise; the next moment, Ren was already dashing outside the restaurant and into Shibuya’s crowded central street. He made his way through without a care in the world, deaf to the verbal abuse thrown his way, his heart pounding for a very different reason than the exertion on his body… until it came to a stop for a split second when his hand grabbed that shoulder.  
  
“Ake—”  
  
The word died in his throat like light being blotted out of the sky, and with it came the icy grip of disappointment tightening around his heart. It wasn’t Akechi.  
  
“The hell’s wrong with you, man?” the high schooler asked, looking as weirded out as if Ren had done something particularly gross and revolting. Beside him, a girl, wearing the same school uniform, appeared equally perplexed, in an annoyed sort of way.  
  
“Ah—sorry, I—” Ren stammered in embarrassment, only now realizing the idiocy of his action. “I just, mistook you for someone else I know… You’re wearing the same uniform, so…”  
  
The high schooler seemed to mellow slightly. With a shrug, he and the girl went on their way, never looking back. The discomfort in Ren’s stomach had nothing to do with the complaint she made under her breath about how Shibuya was really infested with weirdos.  
  
“Hah… Hah… What’s gotten into you—”  
  
Behind him, Ren could hear Ann’s confusion meddled into her heavy panting. He said nothing, but he didn’t need to anyway: a short silence went by before he sensed her straighten up and gaze at the two high schoolers in the distance, realization slowly dawning on her.  
  
“Oh, Ren…”  
  
He didn’t respond. A flare of light flashed across his glasses, making his expression unreadable.  
  
  
  
  
  
“So, I take it everyone is OK with sending the calling card?”  
  
“Hehe, leave it to me. My Futaba Cannon is going to blow all of Japan away so bad, they’ll talk about it for years to come.”  
  
“All we need is the greenlight, leader.”  
  
All heads turned to Ren, whose solemn expression was burning with a determination unlike anything they ever witnessed before. There was something awe-inspiring about it.  
  
“Yeah. Let’s make Shidou pay, once and for all.”  
  
That was it, Ren thought, the moment he had been waiting for, almost as though he were born for the sole purpose of waiting his entire life and witnessing it one day. His fists tightened beneath the table. Never did he hate someone so much like he did Shidou, and not because he had a personal reason to; he couldn’t care less about what Shidou did to him. No, this was all for the sake of the one victim he couldn’t save, the person whose fate burned a hole into Ren’s heart, the one whose sudden, forced disappearance made Ren realize…  
  
“Ren? You there?”  
  
Ren blinked, looking up to meet seven pairs of eyes the concern of which glistened as one. Morgana looked especially sorrowful.  
  
“Yes, sorry,” Ren replied a bit too fast, feeling some distant relief as his friends looked reassured somewhat. “Let’s give it everything we’ve got.”  
  
“Hell yeah! That asshole’s gonna get the beatin’ of his life!” Ryuji exclaimed, while Futaba looked like she was ready to duke it out.  
  
“I’m finally going to avenge Mom… Bring it on, Shidou…!”  
  
“Haru’s father, too,” Makoto added, glancing at Haru kindly. She nodded her gratitude, and then directed her doleful gaze at Ren.  
  
“And… Akechi-kun, as well…”  
  
A sharp point of pain pierced Ren’s heart, vivid to the point of showing on his features as a wince. A powerful emotion took over his senses, a seed threatening to bloom into something much darker if left unchecked, possessing him to say…  
  
“…won’t bring him back, though…”  
  
Ren regretted the harshness of his words even before he saw Haru’s expression turn crestfallen. A long silence fell over the room. He went too far, and he knew it; Haru was only trying to be sympathetic, and this is how he was thanking her…  
  
“Sorry,” he quickly said, scratching his neck bashfully, “I didn’t mean to…”  
  
“It’s all right,” she replied at once with a rueful smile, much to his gratitude.  
  
Another silence settled in. It seemed to Ren that some of his friends wanted to speak, but didn’t really know how to proceed. Reading the mood, he felt obligated to react.  
  
“Guys, don’t worry about me. I’m fine, really. Let’s send the calling card.”  
  
As much as he was attempting to play things cool, Ren couldn’t claim he felt the same way inwardly. Not only was he unnecessarily short with Haru, but his self-pity was nothing so much as pathetic. Akechi would probably give him the verbal beating of his life if he saw him brooding like this.  
  
Yes… he would probably smack him on the head and bark at him to get a move on, or something equally harsh. Call him an embarrassment, perhaps…  
  
Ren wouldn’t know.  
  
No, he would never find out… because…  
  
_He’s gone. Akechi’s gone.  
  
I’ll never see him again—  
  
  
  
_Leblanc’s chime rang out.  
  
  
  
It seemed like a gunshot to his scattered brain.  
  
  
  
_  
_ “Dude, don’t tell me you forgot to lock the place up—”  
  
There was a movement of panic across the thieves – what if their plan and identities were compromised? They couldn’t afford it, not when they were this close to—  
  
“No—No way…!”  
  
“You gotta be kiddin’!”  
  
…But their surprise turned out greater than anything they could have imagined; it was wrong to even call it ‘surprise.’ It was more like a tidal wave of a shock so huge, so giant, so overwhelming, it allowed them only a few words before awe stole the rest of them, rooting them to the spot like they were physically nailed to it. Ren’s heart, for its part, stopped altogether for a split moment.  
  
There in the doorframe of Leblanc, stood a smiling Akechi Goro.  
  
A mere second later, the spell was broken: most rose from their seats and all started flooding him with questions, trying desperately to find sense in what shouldn’t have any, trying to understand the impossible in what felt almost like a primal instinct. The clamor of voices made it difficult to tell whose voice belonged to whom; Akechi gave a sheepish chuckle at the confused chaos his appearance elicited, as though not having expected it and now feeling embarrassed. Ren was the only one not to speak. All he could do was stare in utter amazement, unable to believe his eyes, unable to trust his senses when they were assuring him that _Akechi was really there, breathing and talking, mere inches away from them…  
  
_“Seriously, what’re you doin’ here?” came Ryuji’s distant voice into Ren’s foggy mind. “We thought you’d—that you’d, uh…”  
  
“Yet you appear entirely unscathed,” Yusuke added, Makoto nodding by his side.  
  
But as Akechi opened his mouth to speak, Ren finally stood up, his voice sharp and clear, like a leader.  
  
“Come sit down.”  
  
Akechi, a bit taken aback at first, eventually smiled and made his way to Ren’s booth, sitting opposite of him. Most of the thieves looked wary at first, clearly undecided on how to feel or act in that surreal situation, but something in Akechi’s manner definitely suggested no danger for the time being. His weak smile suggested weariness – no, _meekness,_ and Ren couldn’t help but blink. Seeing Akechi look meek only a few days after he vomited the worst of insults on them all, acted so cocky and arrogant, rendered himself psychotic to the point even that word didn’t qualify anymore, felt strangely disconcerting. The whiplash left Ren quite perplexed.  
  
“I’m sorry for catching you off-guard like this,” Akechi said at last, looking genuinely apologetic. “In hindsight, I should have warned you beforehand, but…”  
  
“Don’t sweat it,” Ren replied, faster than anyone else. He could feel a strange sensation stirring in his stomach at Akechi’s grateful smile, but he made sure to keep his expression neutral.  
  
“For real though, what’re you doin’ here?” Ryuji cried out again, speaking everyone’s thoughts aloud. “How come you—what happened after we, uh, met?”  
  
The awkwardness was high, but the yearning for answers higher; all eyes were fixed on Akechi, intent and unwavering. A short silence passed before he finally answered.  
  
“My power saved me,” he said simply, looking at Ryuji straight in the eye.  
  
“Your power? You mean your Persona?” Ann asked, prompting a nod of confirmation.  
  
“Right. I take it you remember what happened back then—my double and I were holding each other at gunpoint. We shot at the same time…”  
  
“That’s when we heard the two gunshots…” Futaba chimed in, her expression difficult to interpret. Akechi nodded again before continuing.  
  
“I thought this would be the end. But before I realized it… my double was collapsing to the floor, while his own bullet merely grazed past me. I suppose he really was second-rate.”  
  
Ren wasn’t sure whether Akechi’s little joke was meant to ease the atmosphere or was spoken out of genuine, concealed spite. Then again, the hint of a smirk on his lips did make him lean toward the latter, but Ren understood why Akechi felt that way. Triumphing over Shidou’s cognition of him must have felt good, if not outright exhilarating.  
  
“Back-up arrived as soon as he dropped dead… I was entirely surrounded. This is when my Persona helped me. The next moment, all of them were gone, and I quickly made my way to the exit of this world.”  
  
“You went all the way back to the exit of Shidou’s Palace on your own?” Makoto said, eyes very round and wide. “But what about your injuries? You could barely stand on your two legs back there…”  
  
“Like I said… my Persona did help me a lot,” Akechi responded, addressing her a pleasant smile. “As for my injuries, it was nothing a couple of days’ rest couldn’t fix.”  
  
“Really… That’s good, then,” Makoto replied. But Ren could see she wasn’t entirely convinced.  
  
“So you’re tellin’ me you were alive and kickin’ this whole time and you let us simmer at least a couple of days before finally decidin’ to show up out of the blue?” Ryuji barked, and Akechi’s smile widened even more.  
  
“Were you worried about me?” he asked, in an almost dainty way.  
  
“Well, duh! Of course we were!” Ryuji shot back without so much as a hint of hesitation. “We were all feelin’ like shit because of your ass, you know! Because we realized we couldn’t do anythin’ for you, not when you were bein’ used by some shitty adult, and not when you were about to freakin’ kick it either!”  
  
It was Akechi’s turn to be entirely caught off-guard. He blinked a couple of times, as though not believing his ears. Then, his gaze fell, and a hint of melancholy bled into his weak smile.  
  
“I… see,” was all he said.  
  
For a while, nobody spoke; they all needed some time to gather their thoughts. Ren couldn’t find it in him to tear his gaze away from Akechi, as though fearing he might be there one moment and then gone the next. He knew how irrational that thought was, of course, but he couldn’t help it: it felt so strange, so impossible, so…  
_  
Miraculous.  
_  
“So… What shall we do now?”  
  
Yusuke was the one to break the dragging silence. Haru looked up at him. “What do you mean?”  
  
“He obviously means what are we going to do about him,” Morgana replied, staring at Akechi all the while. “I mean, you didn’t come all the way here just to let us know you were fine, right? You could’ve just contacted Ren in that case.”  
  
He had a point, Ren thought. But far from unfazed, Akechi merely lifted his unshaking eyes to meet Morgana’s inquisitive ones.  
  
“I could have, of course… but that was exactly the problem. My phone isn’t working anymore now that I returned from that world. I am not sure why.”  
  
“Not working anymore?” Haru echoed in confusion.  
  
“Where is it now?” Makoto inquired, causing round, maroon eyes.  
  
“Ah… I left it home. Is that a problem?”  
  
“No… Not at all,” she replied wearily after a brief pause.  
  
“Anyway, back to what we were talking about,” Morgana piped in, apparently annoyed by all the sidetracking. “Are you saying you don’t have any other intentions for coming here besides telling us you survived?”  
  
“Please elaborate,” Akechi said in a calm tone even as Ren felt the bite in Morgana’s words was rather unnecessary.  
  
“Well… I thought for sure you came back because you wanted to strike a deal with us,” Morgana responded, a bit less confident all of a sudden. “Ask if you could be in when we’d steal Shidou’s heart.”  
  
Akechi outright chuckled this time, turning a crescent-shaped gaze at Morgana. Ren felt his heart do a little leap.  
  
“Hah… How perceptive,” he said, before his smile faded a bit in favor of something forlorn. “Well, I would be lying if I said the idea displeased me… but it isn’t like I could go through with it.”  
  
“How come?” Ann asked, voicing the single question on everyone’s lips.  
  
“You see, I…” he replied, suddenly looking embarrassed not unlike a small child. “As soon as I left the ship, I realized I had lost my power. I have no idea why, but…”  
  
“So you can’t summon your Persona anymore?” Morgana said, jumping on top of the table, his full attention on Akechi. “That’s strange… Are you sure?”  
  
“I can feel it. I can feel I’m empty within.”  
  
This statement was greeted by another long silence yet again. Akechi spoke up once more before it could reach awkward territory. “This is why I can’t, as much as I dislike it, join you and fight alongside you all—even when so much is at stake. Powerless as I am, I would only slow you down at best, and who knows what could happen at worst…”  
  
The Phantom Thieves exchanged looks. When Ryuji parted his lips, he said what everything seemed to be thinking.  
  
“Wouldn’t it be a shame, though…?”  
  
Akechi tilted his head aside. Ann was the one to elaborate.  
  
“I know what he means… You more than all of us must be itching to fight back against Shidou right now, right? I don’t know, it’d feel kind of wrong that you stayed behind, almost unfair…”  
  
“After all, we did face our demons, ourselves,” Yusuke added wisely. “I suppose this is where this feeling comes from.”  
  
“They’re right. This is your battle, Akechi.”  
  
Ren’s stare didn’t budge even when Akechi shifted his gaze at him. His astonished eyes were nothing like Ren’s, which were serious, impenetrable.  
  
“Are you saying you want me to join you despite my current condition? Despite what I tried to do to you all…?”  
  
His question was for Ren, but it was Makoto who answered as she gave Haru and Futaba a sidelong glance. “…If everyone agrees to it, of course.”  
  
The two concerned didn’t immediately respond. Ren couldn’t blame them for being so hesitant – it was a huge permission they were being asked to grant, something anyone would have trouble deciding. But, as much as Ren understood their inner conflict, he couldn’t help but hope, selfishly hope their answer would be a resounding ‘Yes,’ ‘Of course,’ ‘Gladly’, or something equally positive…  
  
And at last, when Ren’s hope was about to wink out… Futaba turned to look into Akechi’s eyes directly, her own gaze strong and inflexible.  
  
“…Fine by me. I’m okay with temporarily forgetting what you did and let you join us back, but only under one condition.”  
  
“That is to say, you’ll have to turn yourself in when this is all over,” Haru continued as Futaba nodded. “You may have had your reasons, but you still need to atone for what you did… no matter what.”  
  
Nobody else interjected. It seemed all believed this was a fair trade-off. Morgana nonchalantly scratched his ear with his paw as he broke the silence.  
  
“…You heard them. So, do we have a deal?”  
  
Akechi contemplated him for what seemed to drag on forever in Ren’s eyes, but only mere seconds truly passed when he finally nodded – alongside with a tiny smile.  
  
“All right. Understood.”  
  
There were no words to express how relieved Ren felt in that moment. He seemed entirely calm, letting no emotion bob to the surface of his expression, but deep down – it was like fireworks had been lit. He wanted to jump for joy, unable to believe what was happening, he just…  
  
“Still, I don’t want to be a burden… Are you sure this is truly—”  
  
Akechi’s eyes showed his concern more plainly that his words did. Ren merely shrugged, although his words had never been more serious.  
  
“We’ll protect you. Even if you can’t fight, it’s only natural you were there to witness Shidou’s defeat.”  
  
It seemed Akechi didn’t quite know how to respond at first. His eyes were wider and rounder than ever, until they took a crescent shape once more, accompanying a grateful, mellow smile.  
  
“…Thank you,” he said sincerely.  
  
Ren didn’t really remember what happened after that. It seemed they spent hours talking about their plan or filling Akechi in about many details while maintaining a somewhat awkward distance – it wasn’t that easy acting cordial to the one who plotted behind their backs and attempted to murder them more than once, even if they agreed on a truce for the time being. Even so, Akechi didn’t seem to take offense, and when each Phantom Thief finally left Leblanc one by one, eager to finally settle the score with Shidou, he seemed quite at peace with the whole world. He and Ren stood up alone in the silent shop. EvenMorgana was gone, sleeping at Futaba’s place.  
  
“Well, I should get going too, I su—”  
  
“Akechi.”  
  
Ren didn’t realize when exactly he grabbed Akechi’s wrist. He didn’t want to let go, feeling this irrational fear of losing something precious if careless creep upon him once more.  
  
His heart was racing. His face hot.  
  
What did that mean?  
  
“Do you mind… staying the night?”  
  
“…What?” Akechi said, surprise stealing over his features. “You mean staying here?”  
  
“Yeah. Please.”  
  
Ren took a step forward. Mere inches separated their faces, to the point he could see his reflection in Akechi’s irises.  
  
“…All right.”  
  
Half an hour later, Ren climbed up the stairs leading to the attic with two heavily-packed plates of curry. Akechi was sitting on the bed, sporting some old pajamas Ren hadn’t worn in forever.  
  
“Looks like I’m getting spoiled today,” Akechi said jokingly while accepting his plate. Ren sat down beside him, preparing to dig in, yet never touching his plate. He was too antsy with anticipation as to how Akechi would react to his cooking.  
  
“How is it?” he finally asked after several seconds which Akechi spent enjoying his mouthful of curry. He knew what the answer would be just by looking at this beaming face.  
  
“It’s absolutely fantastic. Thank you.”  
  
Ren hadn’t realized how badly something had been gnawing at his stomach before Akechi’s response melted it all away. Something much more pleasant replaced it; something like the buzzing of a thousand butterflies.  
  
“That’s good,” he said as he took a spoonful of his own plate at last.  
  
It took the two of them only minutes to clean up their plates. Setting them aside and feeling comfortably full, Ren sat back on the bed, unable to stop himself from stealing glances at Akechi, who seemed entirely oblivious to them. Until…  
  
“Hey… May I ask you something?”  
  
Their gazes met. All traces of lightheartedness were gone from Akechi’s eyes. The sole thing remaining was a strong, anxious desire for an answer.  
  
“I just wanted to know… Why are you doing all this?”  
  
Akechi’s confusion was understandable. Offering food, kindness and hospitality to him, of all people… To anyone in the world aware of the circumstances surrounding them, Ren would have appeared as nothing else but a crazy person. The most basic, primal instinct in mankind's psyche would have screamed at him to stay away from who could have very well been his killer at all costs.  
  
Yet, the answer to Akechi’s question was very simple. Easier than the whole world could ever imagine.  
  
“Because we’re friends, aren’t we?”  
  
Akechi raised an eyebrow, prompting him to elaborate.  
  
“I don’t know about you, but I always had fun when we hung out. It was nice having someone I could consider my rival… someone I could clash with on friendly terms, this sort of stuff. Even in the engine room, while I was fighting for my life against you… Deep down, it felt like we were just competing against each other again. It was fun. It made me feel alive.”  
  
Akechi’s expression changed slightly, but he gave no sign that he wanted to interrupt. Ren went on.  
  
“And then, all of this… was torn from me in the blink of an eye.”  
  
His gaze fell on his lap. He couldn’t read Akechi’s face anymore.  
  
“And that’s when I realized… that I missed you. That with you gone, there was suddenly much less point in going on with my life.”  
  
A chuckle escaped him. He removed his glasses and shook his head, then gave Akechi a little smile. “I guess it’s true what they say—you never realize just how precious something is to you until you lose it.”  
  
“Are you saying…” Akechi began, but his voice trailed off. Ren’s face was close, very close – he could see every single detail of Akechi’s features.  
  
Very slowly, Ren pulled him into a tight embrace.  
  
He heard Akechi give a tiny exclamation of surprise, but that was it. Ren closed his eyes, hoping he could convey with this gesture what he couldn’t with words. The reality of Akechi’s survival had finally reached his brain, flooding him with emotions so intense he felt overwhelmed, and this embrace was his instinct’s natural reaction.  
  
“I don’t want to lose you ever again.”  
  
The words had escaped his lips before he could even think them. His mind was no longer the one speaking. His heart was.  
  
When Ren finally broke the hug, however, most of his solemness was gone, replaced by a sudden surge of bashfulness. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, feeling his cheeks warm up again – although this time not entirely because of love.  
  
“Sorry,” he said quickly, not daring to meet Akechi’s gaze. “I’ll understand if you get mad…”  
  
“Why would I get mad?” Akechi asked, a kind smile on his face. Ren blinked at him several times.  
  
“Well, because… because I thought you’d be annoyed by all my brooding. I thought you’d yell at me, or call me spineless for not being able to move on, or who knows what else…”  
  
“Is that really the idea you have of me?” Akechi replied with a light chuckle. “That hurts, you know.”  
  
“Hah… Sorry,” Ren replied with a laugh of his own. It did occur to him something felt a bit off, but questioning it further was currently the last thing on his mind. He simply felt too happy, too blissful, too euphoric, too…  
  
“Hey… You’re real, aren’t you? You’re not an illusion, or something like that?”  
  
Even as he spoke, the wide grin parting Ren’s lips didn’t fade. Akechi shook his head, his crescent-shaped eyes smiling despite being dull – probably because of the late time.  
  
“Still, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you’re really here right beside me, that you’re alive. You know, it's funny—you showed up exactly when I was thinking of you. It feels almost like a… like a…”  
  
“Like a miracle?” Akechi provided helpfully. Ren chuckled without restraint this time, remembering how he felt upon seeing Akechi standing in Leblanc’s doorframe only a few hours earlier.  
  
“You’re taking the words right out of my mouth.”  
  
They didn’t speak much after that. All Ren remembered before falling asleep was leaning on Akechi’s shoulder, and timidly intertwine their fingers together. Akechi, apparently caught off-guard at first, didn’t take long to relax and gave a long sigh. Ren wouldn't ask for more.  
  
  
  
  
  
Shidou’s Palace was disgustingly despicable as always, earning the very same scorn the Phantom Thieves had felt the first day they laid their eyes upon the remains of Japan straying away across the endless blood sea. The only difference from back then was Akechi’s presence, who looked quite out of place within their midst – and for good reason.  
  
“Damn, you really weren’t kiddin’—your clothes won’t change at all…”  
  
Sure enough, Akechi’s school uniform didn’t budge an inch even as they entered the inside of the Palace. He grazed his cheek with his index finger, chuckling like he just did something shameful.  
  
“You don’t need to twist the knife, you know,” Panther shot at Skull, before throwing Akechi a playful wink. “Ready for this, Crow?”  
  
Akechi blinked once, then twice, looking at her without comprehending. It was Navi who stepped in to clarify.  
  
“Well, duh—even if you can’t fight, you’re one of us for now, aren’t you? Hence Crow.”  
  
“Ah… I see,” Akechi replied with another sheepish chuckle, before Queen punched her right fist into her left palm.  
  
“Come on, let’s get a move on already,” she commanded, and just like that, the thieves were off, rushing through the hallways, tearing down whatever stood in their way, making sure Akechi was okay – although this proved quite unnecessary, as no Shadow made any effort to attack him despite being an easy target. Joker was glad for that.  
  
Reaching the Chamber of Representatives barely took them any time. The elevator ride was spent in silence, all heart rates rising with each floor the elevator went past. And then, when the doors opened to reveal the grand room… there he was.  
  
Shidou Masayoshi stood on the podium, as though he had been waiting for them.  
  
“Here you are, you asshole!” Skull yelled as they all approached at a run. It was like the floodgates opened: all of them started pouring their hatred for Shidou like there was no tomorrow. Shidou, however, took it all in stride; his silent stare was unreadable.  
  
“Come on, your turn,” Joker finally told Akechi, who didn’t say a word ever since they reached the room. “Tell him everything you’ve been yearning to all those years.”  
  
Akechi gave him a blank gaze. It then traveled to Shidou.  
  
  
  
For the first time, the Shadow smirked.  
  
  
  
“Heh… As I thought.”  
  
But before the thieves could bark at him what he meant, Shidou suddenly turned around. He was staring down at them over his shoulder, his eye narrow, glaring.  
  
“All good things have to come to an end, however. Finish the job already.”  
  
The next moment, Shidou’s Shadow was gone.  
  
It left in its wake a horrid, deafening silence.  
  
“What was that about…?”  
  
Panther asked what everyone else thought.  
  
In a very slow motion, all gazes turned to Akechi.  
  
  
  
Joker suddenly felt sick to the stomach.  
  
“No way… Don’t tell me…”  
  
“That can’t be!”  
  
Akechi stayed silent. No matter how much he searched his eyes, Joker couldn’t see anything in their depths. They were entirely empty, translating nothing, betraying no emotion.  
  
Joker knew that gaze. That one devoid of human shine.  
  
“You’re not Akechi, you bastard!” Skull shouted, taking on a battle stance. “You’re that maniac cognition of him!”  
  
“But if he is, then…” Noir asked, looking much smaller and frailer than usual. “Where’s the real one?”  
  
“Hm? Right here.”  
  
  
  
Joker felt his heart stop.  
  
  
  
An urge to vomit overtook him. From the corner of his eye, as though the flow of time had slowed down, he saw it.  
  
  
  
In one swift motion, the impostor had tossed something at the thieves’ feet, something large and limp, like a rag doll. It was donned in a tight, striped suit, a dark, dried bloodstain tainting one side. The visor was broken, revealing one open eye, glassy and entirely lifeless.  
  
This was their answer. About where the real Akechi Goro was.  
  
  
  
“To think you'd be so delusional… This stupid lovey-dovey act? Even he would have been disgusted by it, you know?”  
  
A stunned, horrified silence enveloped the room. Some thieves were clasping their hands over their mouths, others simply staring open-mouthed as if producing a silent scream. None of them could do so much as move, like they were being rooted to the spot by a superior force.  
  
Slowly, almost nonchalantly, the impostor reached into his pocket and raised his firearm, taking aim at the boy with red gloves whose name he didn’t know, and his lips curved into a demented, inhuman grin.  
  
There would be no survivors.  
  
  
  


* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Did you spot all the hints to Goro's true identity? Hehe... I put a lot in there. Second fic for the Dark Bang is coming very soon.


End file.
